Book Review – Inheritance of Secrets by Sonya Bates

Dear Readers,

I am so behind on my TBR list for Netgalley, it is not funny. I am doing my best. However, my concentration and drive are lacking during the quarantine…

I just finished a very interesting book – Inheritance of Secrets by Sonya Blake.

Synopsis

No matter how far you run, the past will always find you. A gripping, page-turning mystery for all fans of Kate Furnivall and Sara Foster.

A brutal murder. A wartime promise. A woman on the run.

Juliet’s elderly grandparents are killed in their Adelaide home. Who would commit such a heinous crime – and why? The only clue is her grandfather Karl’s missing signet ring.

When Juliet’s estranged sister, Lily, returns in fear for her life, Juliet suspects something far more sinister than a simple break-in gone wrong. Before Juliet can get any answers, Lily vanishes once more.

What secrets did Karl Weiss have that could have led to his murder? A German soldier who migrated to Adelaide, Juliet knew Karl as a loving grandfather. Is it possible he was a war criminal? While attempting to find out, Juliet uncovers some disturbing secrets from WWII Germany that will put both her and her sister’s lives in danger …

Gripping. Tense. Mysterious. Inheritance of Secrets links the crimes of the present to the secrets of the past and asks how far would you go to keep a promise?

Quotes

‘I wished I had asked him (grandfather) about it while I still could’.

‘Had he completed his duties with the conviction and certainty that he always did, believed in what he was doing and followed orders without question?’

Review

This book took me into unchartered and uncomfortable waters of ‘them against us’. Having grown up in the USSR and having many members of my family killed, suffering siege in Leningrad, suffering Nazi occupation during WWII it is still very strange to read and understand the stories from ‘the other side of the front’….

However, thanks to amazing talent of Sonya Bates, her voice, the dynamic of narrative and the characters in this book, Inheritance of Secrets was not abandoned but read through and through.

I literally only just now closed the book file on Kindle and am writing this review. There is so much I want to say about this book that I am worried I will forget it all.

Juliet – the main character and the ‘voice’ of the modern days part of the story. A loving granddaughter, a talented writer, a caring sister and a very good, understanding and accommodating girlfriend.

The murder of her grandparents shocks her into realisation of so many things: importance of friendship, loyalty of blood relations, her role in the relationship with her boyfriend. Juliet is trying to get to the bottom of the crime, lies, secrets, her situation and… succeeds.

What helps her along is her strength, her unconditional love for her grandparents and her sister. And, yes, the pain of the losses she survives. Juliet is the one who made me read on. She made me look at her grandparents through her eyes.

Karl and Grete were not German for Juliet. They were her grandparents, her rock and salvation, the only constant during her growing up. They were two shining examples of love, devotion, dedication and commitment.

Karl Weiss – the grandfather, the starting point of Weiss/Dunne family in Australia. I was cautious about him till the very end of the story. And he has proven me… right. Yes, he was not a Nazi in a complete sense of the concept. Yes, he turned his life around and started afresh in Australia. But…

The crime – the senseless and cruel murder of Karl and his wife Grete in their home. It turns out that the murder is just the tip of the iceberg of secrets and cover ups. And it is up to Juliet to find the truth and to find the way out of a complicated and dangerous situation.

Lily – a wayward rebellious sister, Ellis – the best friend, Police detectives – all have their roles to play in uncovering the murder and villains. But it is up to Juliet to take the brunt of it all. It is up to her to uncover not only the culprit of the murder but so many other things in her life and lives of her loved ones.

Is there a happy end? A reader would have to judge for themselves. I am still of two minds about it.

All in all, I am happy I have read this book. I persevered and finished it in a short time. I gave it 5 stars for the voice, the characters, the story, the plots and sub-plots and the aftertaste it left behind.

Stay safe. Read a book